The Remarkable Fertility of Marie Josèphe de Saxe

In an age when marriages were conducted solely on a political basis certain things were looked for in a prospective royal bride. Naturally, her family (and thereby the alliance she would bring) was the major consideration and was often only challenged by one other aspect - her ability to bear children.

In France, women - even royal ones - held little to no official political power. Even a queen only had a chance of having political influence if she acted as regent for her son until he came of age. A foreign bride's entire success was determined by whether she had given birth to a healthy son. The court of Versailles saw plenty of such foreign princesses who not only put under immense pressure but risked being "returned" to their families if they did not fulfil their primary function. This had been the case with Mariana Victoria of Spain who was betrothed to Louis XV but was later sent home when the Prime Minister realised that she was too young to bear children in the immediate future. Marie Antoinette, too, stands as another example of a woman whose child-bearing capabilities risked an alliance between France and the empire of Austria-Hungary.  

In 18th century Europe, the country of Saxony was renowned for producing remarkably fertile princesses. This is hardly surprising when one takes a look at the rulers of that part of the Holy Roman Empire. Augustus III of Poland, who was also hereditary Duke of Saxony, had at least 14 children by his wife and his heir, Frederick Christian had 9 by his Austrian wife - also named Maria Josepha.

Marie Josèphe in 1749

Understandably, this caused Louis XV to look there when searching for a bride for his son. Amongst these royal women were one in particular whose fertility astonished even those who expected children from her. 

Marie Josèphe de Saxe was married to Louis Ferdinand, son of Louis XV in February 1747 and conceived shortly after. However, the then 16-year old's future as a mother was far from certain. Her first two children - been in 1748 and 1749 respectively - were both stillborn. Naturally, this caused some concern and before long tongues started questioning whether the new Dauphine were able to carry a living child to term.

Such scrutiny and pressure cannot have helped Marie Josèphe's health. Despite this, she was soon pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter, Marie Zéphyrine, who died at the age of 5. Those who questioned the Dauphine's fertility were quickly silenced.  Between 1748 and 1759 she gave birth once a year (except for in 1758). In 1762, Marie Josèphe found herself pregnant again but suffered a miscarriage. Her final child was born in 1764.

In total, Marie Josèphe gave birth 13 times - and buried 8 of her children before they turned 10 years old. Those who survived to adulthood were Louis XVI, Louis Stanislas Xavier, Charles Philippe, Marie Clothilde and Marie Élisabeth.

Marie Zéphyrine - the first child of Marie Josèphe who was
not stillborn. Sadly, she would die at the age of 5 (just
two years after this portrait was painted)

It should also be noted, that it is possible that she suffered more miscarriages in early pregnancy. Bertrand Fay claims that she suffered no less than eleven miscarriages but this number seems a bit high considering that she spent almost a decade being constantly pregnant. Despite losing so many of her children, Marie Josèphe had still produced three future kings.

As the years passed, the talk of the Dauphine's fertility turned to fervent praise rather than censure. Upon the birth of the future Louis XVI, the Marquis d'Argenson said of her: "There is a brave German who is giving us so many heirs to the throne". The Marquis de Souvré went further and declared that "one should only take women in Saxony (for brides, that is)".

Praised or not, Marie Josèphe's fertility undoubtedly took a toll on her health. The process of carrying and then giving birth to a child causes immense pressure on both body and mind - and this was in an age with little to no actual knowledge of either bacteria or obstetrics. Seen in this light, it is a wonder in itself that Marie Josèphe not only survived 13 births but also an unknown amount of miscarriages and the subsequent risk of infection. In this regard, the praise of her contemporaries was quite merited.